So, let's see what's going to happen now that the cat's out of the bag.

Aniu

Kodan and I froze as if we'd been paralyzed. Then we slowly turned as one to see Scrub staring at us with a look of pain and complete betrayal on his face. His hackles were up, his eyes angry and in pain. An icicle of guilt thrust through my body, sharper than any bear's claw.

"Scrub," I began, "This isn't what it looks like."

He scowled. "It looks like you were nuzzling him and saying you loved him," he all but spat.

My ears dropped. "Please, Scrub, just let me explain."

"No, Aniu," he snapped in an uncommonly harsh tone. "I'm going to explain a few things to both of you, and then you're going to know exactly what's what." He took a deep breath as if he were going to yell, and then his posture became suddenly less tense, as if something had broken inside of him.

"Aniu, I've loved you... as a friend at first, since we were cubs. You were never willing to let the status quo be, never content to sit by while the others gave me a hard time. You were always there, the friend I needed, the one wolf I could rely on. As we grew older and changed from cubs into wolves, I realized that I really and truly loved you. I wanted to be with you, to comfort and protect you in tough times the way you never stopped doing for me. I grappled with my feelings nonstop until Kava came along."

I nodded slowly, remembering all that had happened. I remembered one night when Kava had been particularly raunchy in his "affection" and Scrub had tried to stop him. The poor wolf couldn't walk properly for a week afterward. "You tried to save me," I said slowly.

"Yes, and I failed miserably," he lamented. "But the worst was yet to come. As I watched him harass you day after day and hung beck for fear of a beating, I realized that I was not good enough for you, that I didn't deserve you. What kind of alpha would I be, constantly cowering behind my mate like a cub hiding under his mother's tail? Useless, that's what kind, just like I had always been. It would take months, perhaps years in the loners' lands by myself to make me into a wolf worthy of you, and could I ever ask you to wait that long? I knew then that I couldn't be your mate, but I vowed that one day I would do something worth your love, something to return your kindness." Here he looked directly at Kodan. "Then you came to our pack."

Kodan nodded. "I did, but what does that have to do with...?"

Scrub barked. "Let me finish. Kodan, I saw in you the warrior, the male that I could never be if I were hardened by a thousand years of isolation and self-reliance. You were a champion, born and raised, a fighter, a diplomat, as fast as the wind and as strong as a bull moose. You were a hero down to your very pads, all I could ever hope to be and more.

"I saw something else, too." Here he focused closely on us both. "You two were destined, perfect for one another. There was the same love that I harbored for you when I was a cub, Aniu, coming to and from you both. I realized that it could become the passion I felt as a wolf. The only question was how to make it happen."

Kodan's voice spiked. "You mean you were... setting us up?"

Scrub nodded.

In spite of the fact that this liberated me from our courtship to be with Kodan, I was stunned. "Scrub, you lied to me?"

He shook his head earnestly. "Not about my feelings for you," he assured me. "Everything I said was true; I did love you, and I did want to be your mate. Still, I knew I wasn't the one who should have you. Kodan is."

"You could have just said something," I fairly snapped.

He shook his head. "Your relationship had to be tested," he explained. "A dog being with the next in line would have caused even more controversy than we did. You two needed to know that this was something from your hearts, not just my suggestion. So I chose to test you with the worst persecutors you would ever face: yourselves."

In spite of my confusion, I realized that this was something I had never seen in Scrub before. For all his physical weaknesses, he was a keen judge of character with a mind as sharp as broken ice. That, unfortunately, only served to make him more appealing, and less, which added to the turmoil inside of me.

"Do I get a say in this?" asked Kodan.

Scrub looked at him. "Do you really care enough about Aniu enough to give up your life for her happiness?"

Kodan looked like he didn't know what to say, and I realized that he had been saying he would do that very thing. "Yes, yes I do," he admitted at last.

At last Scrub smiled. "Then you do get a say, but don't tell me. Tell her."

Kodan looked at me, embarrassed, and our eyes met. "Aniu, I... I only want this if you do," he stammered. "I won't have anything to do with this if you don't agree."

My throat felt as if it were tied up in knots for the longest time. At last I answered, "I think I should talk to my parents about this."

"I already told them," Scrub explained. "They've been a part of this from the start. I'm not the brightest wolf around, but I'm not fool enough to play games with your heart without asking them."

"I should have known," Kodan grumbled under his breath.

Later I would look back and remember that when my mother encouraged me, she had never mentioned Scrub's name, only a male who loved me more than life itself. Kodan was all that and more; he had proven it. I felt so stretched inside, like an animal skin being used for tug-of-war by so many cubs. I wanted to cry, to laugh, to embrace him, to run away, but in the end I just stood where I was. Finally I turned toward Scrub. "What about you?" I asked.

He smiled. "I'll be fine," he promised. "I'll stick around long enough to see you two get married, then I'll go out and find a life of my own, and a mate too, I hope, when I'm strong enough to be the wolf she'll need."

Both of them looked to me for a decision. I felt as though my head and my heart would burst. "I can't choose between the two of you," I confessed. "I love you both."

"Then I will make my own choice," Scrub answered. "I choose to not stand in the way of two who are ready to commit to one another."

I realized that both of us were looking at Kodan now for his decision. "Alright," he said, wilting under the attention, "I said I only wanted it if you did, so here's what I have to say. Aniu, daughter of Sequoia and Nina, would you, uh... could I have... no, that's not it."

I had to smile at his bumbling. This was happening so fast that no one could reasonaly expect my heart to keep up with it all. Yet deep down I knew that eventually y emotions would settle down, would fall in love with what I understood to be the only answer there was, the answer which I truly wanted most anyway. "Yes," I said at last. "I will be yours, Kodan."

We two embraced, and as if from another world I could hear Scrub saying, "My work here is done."

Kodan paused to smile at Scrub. "Buddy, I don't think I can ever thank you, but I sure hope you get what you're looking for when you leave the pack. You deserve it." He threw back his head and let out a long, triumphant howl, then turned to me, his eyes watering and dancing at the same time. "Let's go tell your folks."

"At this hour?" I asked incredulously.

He smiled. "I can't wait to tell them. I literally can't wait. Now that we're finally engaged, I want the whole world to know. I've never felt more alive!"

I could see it in every inch of his handsome figure, every hair of his beaming face. The truth was, I felt almost as excited as he. The weight of doubt was completely gone, the joy of the moment undiluted. "Alright," I agreed, "Let's."

"You coming, Scrub?" asked Kodan.

Scrub winked at us. "Not just yet. I think I'll give you two some space while you share the good news with the others."

I started to walk away with Kodan, then realized there was something I should do. I ran back to Scrub and quickly touched my tongue to his forehead; a grateful kiss, but not a romantic one. "Thank you," I told him. "I still feel mixed up inside, but that will pass. You've done more for me than I could ask from anyone, even a mate."

He smiled. "I guess we're finally even then," he said. "Now go, your fiance is waiting."

I went back to Kodan and fell into step beside him. "So," he asked, feigning envy and deliberately doing a bad job of it. "Do I get one of those too?"

I smiled, deciding to be coy with him for now. The whole thing was strange and new to me, but I knew without a doubt I would come to like it in due time. No, not like it. Love it.

"Be patient," I teasingly reprimanded him. "The time for marriage ceremonies is only two weeks away."

Well, I guess you just never know with some wolves, do you? A lot of people have the view these days that relationships are about feelings and romance, but real love always carries with it a facet of sacrifice. Both Kodan and Scrub were willing to give up what they wanted for the sake of what would make Aniu happy, and more importantly what was in her best interests.

So, now Aniu is finally with the guy she's supposed to be with, and everyone's happy. What could go wrong?

Future chapters will rely more on the original White Legend from Balto Source. And I just lost The Game.